The San Francisco Bay estuary’s White Sturgeon meet all the criteria for threatened status, but feds say that officially listing is “precluded”
Media Contact:
- Fiona Baker, San Francisco Baykeeper, (510) 671-5705, [email protected]
After a twenty-month delay, and in response to a court order, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has determined that San Francisco Bay’s White Sturgeon warrant protection as a listed species under the federal Endangered Species Act. The agency based its decision on extensive evidence of the precipitous decline of White Sturgeon populations in the San Francisco Bay estuary, as initially documented by San Francisco Baykeeper, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, and Restore the Delta. In its determination, the Service cites altered freshwater flows, harmful algae blooms, and habitat degradation as factors in this decline.
However, in spite of its finding that the species meets all the criteria for listing as an endangered species, the Service has declined to add White Sturgeon to the official endangered species list. As justification, the agency reports only that the listing is precluded by unspecified “higher priority listing actions.”
White Sturgeon are North America’s largest freshwater fish and one of its most ancient species. They require high river flows to reproduce successfully—something they have struggled to do as a result of massive water diversions from the Central Valley rivers that flow to the Delta and Bay.
In 2024, California closed the harvest fishery for White Sturgeon after two years of significant fish kills driven by harmful algal blooms. In the same year, the California Fish and Game Commission responded to a petition by Baykeeper and its allies to list the population under the state Endangered Species Act. Since the state declared the Bay’s White Sturgeon as a candidate for listing, California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has failed to complete a full status review of the White Sturgeon populations, as required under the California Endangered Species Act.
Baykeeper and its allies compelled the final decision from the federal government via successful litigation in 2025, which led to a court order requiring the Service to act on the non-profit organizations’ 2023 petition. Now, these organizations are prepared to pursue claims against CDFW under the state Endangered Species Act.
“The Endangered Species Act is the last bulwark for many native fish in San Francisco Bay, and absent actual protections for them, species that have been here for millennia are at risk of being lost forever,” said Baykeeper managing attorney Eric Buescher. “Unfortunately, neither the state nor federal government have provided the resources to keep up with the increasing scale, scope, and pace of risks these species face. Baykeeper and our partners will continue to hold these agencies accountable for their failures to act in a timely and lawful manner.”
“The biggest threat to the White Sturgeon’s survival is neglect from the very agencies that are required to protect them,” said Baykeeper science director Jon Rosenfield. “The Trump Administration recognizes that San Francisco Bay’s White Sturgeon are imperiled, but has now declared that it will take no action to protect these magnificent fish or their habitats throughout the San Francisco Bay estuary and its watershed. Similarly, the Newsom Administration is officially ignoring this unique fish’s plight, and the impacts of unsustainable water diversions on the fishes of San Francisco Bay.”
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